Maryland Highway Officials Suspend Non-Emergency Lane Closures To Help Labor Day Weekend Traffic
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Heavy traffic is expected over the Labor Day weekend, as people are coming back from the beach or going to see friends and family for the holiday on Monday.
The Maryland State Highway Administration is preparing for the busiest holiday of the year- and they're doing so by making adjustments on major highways.
MDOT SHA is suspending non-emergency lane closures until Tuesday to help traffic move smoothly on area roadways during the long weekend.
"Every minute a lane is closed when it's at its critical lane volume, it's very congested. It takes 4 minutes to recover from that so if you look at it from a grand scale, it's critical we get those lanes open as soon as we possibly can," said Charlie Gischler, with MDOT SHA.
As the weekend comes to an end, they want drivers to remain on US 50 and not detour off onto smaller roads. that means beachgoers will be the first ones to see the impact.
"Some of our first responders are totally taxed because they can't respond. Their response time gets cut because of theres so much vehicles there. People can't go to the stores so we're trying to work with the local towns and work with our community and tell them we have a road that's designed for high traffic volumes," Gischler said.
Another thing to look out for are kids going back to school Most classes are back in session Tuesday. SHA is warning to "Look Up and Look Out" for pedestrians and bicyclists as almost 900,000 students statewide return to school.
"Our chart crews are going to be out 24/7 365 so we're out there to get your back and we know people have our backs too. The move over law, if you see the amber lights on the side ofthe road, you have to move over to the next lane, if not, please slow down," Gischler said.
Should a mechanical breakdown happen, just pull as far to the shoulder as possible, remain in the car and dial #77 or call 9-1-1.
